Chicago Park District says it is 'ill-suited' to care for Viking ship

The Viking sailing ship in February 2007, stored at Good Templar Park in Geneva. (George Thompson, Chicago Tribune)

Chicago Park District officials are seeking to relieve the agency of its official responsibility to take care of an 1890s-era replica of an ancient Viking ship.

The district argued in a petition filed Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court that for financial and functional reasons, the century-old replica would be better off in the hands of non-profit Friends of The Viking Ship Inc.

The Norwegian Viking Ship once belonged to the Federation of Norwegian Women’s Societies. But in 1920 it was passed on to Lincoln Park Commissioners, according to the petition.

A 1920 deed from the now-defunct Norwegian association said that any future trustees were responsible for the ship’s “perpetual care,” without specifying how trustees could resign from their posts.

The responsibility was passed to the Chicago Park District when in 1934 legislation transferred property and funds held by the Lincoln Park Commissioners -- including the Viking Ship -- to the agency, according to the petition.

The ship was first built in 1892 and is a replica of a 1,000-year-old Viking vessel, the Gokstad.

It made its way to Chicago a year later when Captain Magnus Andersen and his crew sailed to the city to display the ship at the 1893 Columbian Exposition to celebrate the historical achievements of Viking explorer Leif Erikson, according to the petition.

More than a century later, the repair, relocation and exhibition of the ship could cost $3,120,000, according to the petition.

District officials said they are not equipped to take on that responsibility.

“The Park District is ill-suited to educate the public about Norway’s unique cultural contribution to the Columbian Exposition and to American Life,” the petition said.

The district is hoping the court will amend the deed giving trusteeship of the ship to the Friends of The Viking Ship Inc.

The non-profit currently has possession of the ship and has been raising money for its care and offering tours to the public, according to the petition.

A representative with the Chicago Park district could not be reached for comment Thursday.